1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a power driven portable reaper for cutting fruit off of trees to reap such fruit and to cut branches, leaves and the like of trees on the ground, and more particularly, to a throttle lever equipment of a power driven portable reaper suitable for reaping the fruit of an oil palm.
2. Description of the Related Art
The fruits of an oil palm, which are a kind of nut, are produced on the tree of the oil palm which has a height of 2 to 3.5 meters from the ground. Conventionally, the fruits have been reaped from the tree by using a reaping hand tool including a flat chisel type cutting blade on a tip thereof and having a pole formed of solid or hollow pipe attached to a rear end thereof so as to press the cutting blade forward against the root of the fruit of the palm. In the above-mentioned reaping work, however, the strong fiber of the palm extending in a direction orthogonal to the should be cut off. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out an operation for causing the cutting blade to move forward many times to penetrate the root of the fruit, or the like. In addition, since the reaping tool is heavy, the reaping work requires great physical strength.
In consideration of such circumstances, the applicant has tried to provide a power driven portable reaper in which a cutting blade is reciprocated in a longitudinal direction by the power of an internal combustion engine or the like (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei 7-164351 as the related art).
Based on the situation in the Southeast Asia, for example, where the oil palm is grown, an optimum portable power driven reaper has been developed to solve problems encountered while using reapers in the actual reaping of fruits. In this case, it has been found that a proper guard mechanism for protecting the portable reaper is required because of working conditions and working places.
In consideration of such circumstances, it is an object of the invention to provide a power driven portable reaper comprising a guard structure for guarding the reaper when the reaper is to be temporarily put on the ground or during a reaping work.
The first aspect of the invention provides a power driven portable reaper comprising a power unit provided on a base end, an elongated rod member provided on a tip of the power unit, an impact force generating unit for converting rotation into reciprocation, a cutting blade provided in a tipmost portion, and a guard structure constituted by a plurality of pipes around the power unit so as to surround an outer circumference of the power unit from a tip of the power unit to a base end thereof in the longitudinal direction of the reaper.
According to the portable reaper having such a structure, the power unit is guarded to be wholly covered by the guard structure comprising a plurality of pipes. Therefore, also in the case where the portable reaper which is comparatively heavy collides with something or the ground, the power unit can effectively be protected.
Moreover, the guard structure is constituted by arranging a plurality of pipes around the power unit so as to surround the power unit in a direction from the tip to the base end in the longitudinal direction, and so the guard structure becomes strong and light.
In the portable reaper, if the guard structure further comprises a bar-shaped member protruded rearward from the base end of the power unit, the bar-shaped member can be utilized as an extension grip of the portable reaper and the portable reaper can be held such that the elongated rod member of the reaper can be erected on the ground in the configuration in which the weight of the reaper or a certain shocking force does not directly act on the power unit from the ground. Also in the case where the ground is muddy, the power unit can be erected upward apart from the muddy ground.
In the portable reaper, if the guard structure is constituted by three pipes, that is, two pipes provided below the power unit and one pipe provided above the power unit in a state in which the rod member of the reaper is held horizontally, the portable reaper can be stably put on the ground by the two lower pipes when the rod member is to be put in parallel with the ground. Moreover, the upper pipe can be used as a grip to be gripped when the portable reaper is to be lifted or carried.
Furthermore, the second aspect of the invention provides a power driven portable reaper comprising a power unit provided on a base end portion, an elongated rod member provided on a tip of the power unit, an impact force generating unit for converting rotation into reciprocation, a cutting blade provided in a tipmost portion and wherein a guard member is provided to be protruded outward from at least the impact force generating unit in the vicinity of the impact force generating unit in a direction which is substantially orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the portable reaper.
According to the portable reaper having such a structure, the fruits or leaves of a palm can be prevented from falling down to collide with the portable reaper, and furthermore, a operator can be protected.
Moreover, in the case where the fruits of the palm which have been cut off stay between the leaves of the palm, the reaper can be advantageously used to hook and drop the fruits of the palm.
In the portable reaper, if a tip portion of the guard member is bent forward at about 90 degrees, it is possible to effectively cause the leaves of the palm to be caught or deflected when falling down after being cut off a tree.
These objects as well as other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.